FPFVA015 Special Relativity

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2017
Extent and Intensity
0/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
RNDr. Pavel Bakala, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
RNDr. Kateřina Klimovičová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
RNDr. Pavel Bakala, Ph.D.
Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Recap of Newtonian mechanics. Coordinate system, absolute time and absolute distance inertial system, Newton's equations of motion, mass, Galileo's principle of relativity, Galileo transformation and covariance of Newton's equations of motion, actio in distans disruption of Galileo's principle of relativity by electromagnetic phenomena, covariance failure of Maxwell equations under the Galilei transformations ether, attempts to detect movement of the Sun and the Earth to ether, Michelson experiment. Postulates of the special theory of relativity. Inertial system, Einstein's relativity principle, the principle of universality of the speed of light, clock synchronization, relativity of simultaneity, the definition of length, time dilation and its experimental evidence, length contraction. Kinematics of the special theory of relativity. Lorentz transformation, special Lorentz group transformations components of velocity and acceleration, spacetime interval and the light cone, causality Lorentz transformation for an arbitrary direction of the velocity (boost) and its properties infinitesimal Lorentz transformation. Minkowski spacetime. Geometric interpretation of the special Lorentz transformations, world lines, world tubes surfaces and hypersurfaces in spacetime, general Lorentz group and its subgroups tensors in Minkowski spacetime, the metric tensor, tensor transformation properties 4-velocity and 4-acceleration integration in Minkowski spacetime. Relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics. Action functional and Lagrangian., Maxwell's equations and the equation of motion for charge in an electromagnetic field mass, energy and momentum, 4-momentum force, 4-force, Lorentz 4-force,4-vector of current density, 4-potential, 4-tensor of the electromagnetic field, reformulation of Maxwell's equations in covariant form,field invariants, transformation of elecromagnetic field,plane electromagnetic wave, the wave 4-vector, Doppler effect and aberration, optical appearance of objects moving at relativistic speed.
Syllabus
  • The lecture introduces the basics of the special theory of relativity.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
The student will submit a 2-3 page reflection paper in which he/she will reflect on any issues relating to special relativity. The topic will be chosen individually with respect to his/her professional interests.
Oral examination: presentation on the chosen reflection paper topic, participation in the discussion
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2015, Winter 2016, Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Summer 2020, Winter 2020, Summer 2021, Winter 2021, Summer 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2017, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fpf/winter2017/FPFVA015